I'm not sure if this pertains or not, but my grandfather (on my paternal side) went into the VA hospital in Houston with a swollen knee joint which they found was a tumor in his knee... they then discovered a piece of the tumor had broken off and lodged in his brain. They did brain surgery on him, twice if I recall correctly, and he lived for almost 12 months BUT he lived almost the entire 12 months in a drooling near vegetable state.
Was it worth it?
In this case, alot of money was spent and his quality of life for those 12 months was truely abysmal... of course, hindsight IS 20/20 I recognize. But still, it's quite possible he would have lived longer and had better quality of life IF they'd just left the thing alone I feel. He was in his late 70's I believe... did going after that tumor in his brain really make sense? IDK.
So it's not just about expending resources to try to prolong life for just a little while longer, it's equally about the quality of life you'll get.
As I understand President Obama's concept on this issue, it's that there needs to be some reasonable decisions made on treatments for EOL ailments. Among other things, would the patient perhaps be better off to NOT treat the ailment? In some cases the answer might be Yes.
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God"!)
I agree and I do also... who knows, maybe they have a friend who is single and more up-my-alley? It's better to build bridges than to burn them IMHO.
It is quite frustrating however when no woman I try to initiate a conversation with (on CS or any other dating site) replies back. It's like, a nice friendly intro message is just as pointless as a crappy "Hey wanna screw?" message would be... somethin not right about that.
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God"!)
Why is it ok for us to give 100's of Billions of dollars to foreign countries every year, but totally objectionable to insure that every American citizen has quality affordable health care?
We give (not loan!) billions to India, Pakistan, Israel... 100's of millions to The Palestinian Authority in fact where they held parades in celebration of the 9/11 attacks as I recall (and they're not even a country).... just to name a few, every year. And that's ok, evidentally. But we can't afford health care for all Americans?
Something not right with this picture, ya'll. Somebody's priorities are totally screwed up.
The last time I had health insurance coverage, the premiums were $400 a month and increasing every 3 or 4 months... and that was some 6 years ago now! I can't even imagine what it would run for me today, and I'm a non-smoker non-drinker in very good health working out regularly with no chronic conditions.
At some point even employers who have been paying for their employee's health insurance are going to have to cut it out, what then? It's easy to protest against health care reform when you have health insurance being paid for by your employer... till you don't anymore. Think about it!
Regards and best wishes.
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
We are. We're like Lemmings and our own staggering population numbers are more than likely to trigger wars across the world... for food, for fresh water, for oil, etc. We're just like really dumb monkey's only without so much fur and with much bigger deadlier sticks and stones!
However on the bright side, think what came after the Black Plague wiped out up to 50% of the populations in Europe and Asia... that resulted in: The Renassiance! So maybe war isn't such a bad thing if it results in population reduction...
Pity there really aught to be a better way though, but people apparently can't be taught. (Sigh!)
And why is American in this list twice?
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
It's a necessary evil. Look to Somalia on the east coast of Africa to see what happens in the absense of any significant government.
I'd just like to be extremely wealthy and buy my own tropical island full of naked babes to live on and leave the rest of the "civilized world" behind.
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
On a lighter note... we should all be more respectful of our HEPA filter's then! Never know which relatives might be trapped in there.
Thinking about this even further, perhaps cremation is more popular up north? To the very best of my knowledge, I don't have a single deceased relative who was cremated. I know of only 1 person who was cremated in fact, the husband of a friend of mine who also rescues and raises raccoons... his urn is on a bookshelf in her house. Otherwise, I don't know anybody else who has been cremated. I guess it's not so common in the South. IDK.
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
I watch ALOT of science programs... and they don't always agree. But let's think for just a second here... how many human bodies are being cremated in your area in a given year vs. how many acres of forest burn (by accident or by intentional clearing of the forests) in your area? A few summers ago, we here in the Houston area were being covered by smoke plumes coming up across the Gulf of Mexico from wildfires burning in The Yukatan and Mexico itself... our skies were very overcast, even though there were no clouds.
Also there are dust particles picked up in the Sahara Desert in Africa which are carried by upper level winds clear across the Atlantic Ocean where they then fall back to earth (over North America) adding to the mix. Sometimes the dust is so thick that is has in past years made the sunlight very dim here in Texas for weeks at a time... that's ALOT of dust!
Then there's the constant dust from micro-meteorites sifting down thru the atmosphere... point is, there are alot of sources of dust!
I do not believe that human cremation can begin to account for 80% of the dust we have in our homes. Unless you live right downwind of a very busy crematoria, I find it highly unlikely that that 80% number is near accurate. I'd imagine even 1% would be too high of a number.
I don't claim any particular qualifications either, except where raccoons and computer's are concerned... but just because somebody who claims to be a qualified expert spits out a number as fact, I don't blindly take it as a fact. It has to make some kind of sense before I can consider something as a possible fact. This 80% number doesn't make much sense.
It's also nice to find multiple sources all claiming the same fact if possible. Dat's all. Draw your own conclusions Snuggs.
Regards!
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
No I didn't. There's nothing wrong with valid criticism. There's been ALOT of invalid totally false accusations made however... ie. fearmongering!
One of the biggest accusations I keep hearing/reading is that "the government is going to TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR HEALTHCARE!" What, like you really have that much control right now? Right now, if you have health insurance then the insurance company has considerable control of your health care and I'm quite sure they're far more concerned with their profit margins than your health!
And broke hell, the goverment's got the country deep DEEP in debt! And yet our government still gives, yes GIVES hundreds of Billions of our dollars away yearly to foreign governments! India, Pakastan, Israel... just to name a few.
So we can afford to give hundreds of billions to foreign governments, but we can't make sure every single American citizen has good quality health care? Something not right with that picture.
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
For those that think that goverment shouldn't be controlling your health care... do consider:
1) The proposed legislation reforms how health care is managed in this country, it does not put the goverment in any more or less control of YOUR individual health care!
2) Do you also complain about the government being in control of your daily commute? How about the food you eat? Or the air you breath, or the water you drink... the federal government regulates all that stuff and more too, you know this right?
It's not like the federal government suddenly got bored with controlling nothing BUT the common defense and decided it should go take control of the health care industry and make decisions for YOU on what doctor you go to when you're sick or what kind of medications that doctor can prescribe for you... hello!
Actually, if you have health insurance then the insurance company probably already limits which doctors you can see and what kinds of medications and procedures those doctors can prescribe or administer and for how long even... and you think you're in control of your own health care right now? LMAO! ROF!
Look around you, the government regulates all sorts of things you commonly use or ingest or otherwise come into contact with in your daily life... this is not a new thing. If you want to live in a country with no centralized government regulating anything, move to Somalia. That's what a country becomes when it has no functioning government to speak of. High-seas piracy... there's your true "free enterprise" system at work! Who knew?
I forget now, was it the red pill or the blue pill that was offered to Neo in "The Matrix" to show him what the Matrix really was? I think it was the red pill actually.
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
ps. Free Enterprise is what almost got us into the 2nd Great Depression here recently... don't fool yourself, free enterprise is not the greatest thing since sliced bread! Left unchecked free enterprise can bring a society to it's knees and cause untold misery... don't even go there!
This country is based on the Constitution of the United States of America, and it makes provisions for the government to make laws and regulations for the common good... as well as the common defense. This country is not however based on "free enterprise".
So what do you think would be a good way to provide for and manage health care for all Americans? Illegal aliens and the poor already get free health care via the ER every day, and the wealthy have no problems paying monthly health insurance premiums that would ruin the average middle-class family... so what're your ideas? I'm open to suggestions...
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
Well, GM had a choice... the company chose to take the goverment's (err, people's) money, making the government a majority stake-holder in the company. The majority stake-holder of a company has the right to tell that company what to do. GM had every right to simply go bankrupt and dissolve the entire company... the goverment didn't force them to take the people's money, it simply offered them the choice.
Same with health care. The plan Obama has laid out would offer more choice, not less. Right now, health-care only works well for the insurance companies (and perhaps some lawyers). Insurance premiums are increasing out of control, far too many people cannot afford health insurance, and consider the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs (and insurance benefits!) in the past year or so. This situation isn't going to get better on it's own people!
I'm no Obama fan, but he has the right when he says that the current system is not working and has to be changed! If you have a better idea than the one President Obama has put forth, then please do feel free to document your ideas and write to President Obama and your federal representatives and "enlighten" them! As far as I can figure, the only bad idea is to continue with the status-quo.
But if all you want to do it throw stones at the currently proposed ideas and contribute to "fear mongering", then that makes YOU part of the problem! I don't much like problem people...
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
Upon entering an office to set up some new software I'd developed for a company, the office manager looked at me and said, "But, you don't look like a computer programmer???"
I was downright flattered!
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
Something I've been noticing.... those who are all dead-set against "Obamacare" aka Health Care Reform, are almost exclusively those who have health insurance coverage (paid for in full or large part by their employers). Good for you guys and gals!
Your opinion might change though, when you find yourself unemployed and faced with either paying extremely high Cobra premiums (with what? you're unemployed now remember!) or your employer finally is forced to start reducing your paycheck in order to meet the insurance premium increases... yes, it can and likely will happen to you, too!
If you don't like what President Obama is proposing, then by all means feel free to present better ideas!
I for 1 wouldn't mind seeing all Foreign Aid re-allocated (gotta love that word!) to a universal health care plan! That money we currently give away to other nations (Israel, Pakistan, India, etc. etc. etc.) should be more than enough to pay for health care for all Americans... take care of our own population 1st and foremost for a change.
Think about it... we're sitting here, griping and arguing about how much it's going to cost to reform and provide health care for all our citizens, and yet we're giving GIVING hundreds of billions of dollars away to foreign countries every year! Several of which don't even particularly like us!!!
It might also be prudent to tax people for being obese... 1/3 of Americans are after all, and it costs a fortune to take care of their resulting health problems.
I have a friend who weighs about 1/4 of a ton, his knees can't support his weight so he had to have a power wheel chair 3 years ago, then his spine started to compress and collapse, disks began rupturing, and he had to have emergency surgery this summer to keep him from becoming paralyzed. He also has high blood pressure and diabeties... all because of his excessive weight. The last time I had dinner with him after a club meeting last spring (before the emergency surgeries), he ordered (among other things) extra french fries WITH a large bowl of gravy on the side! Geez! He's a great guy, BUT his lifestyle and terrible diet have nearly killed him and are costing a fortune! He's not the one paying for all this treatment, trust me... we all are, in one way or another.
A tax on weight might give some extra incentive to "get the lead out!" It's not just soft drinks or sugar that's the problem here, it's the entire diet and attitude that's to blame!
Hey it's just a thought...
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
Uhmmm... didn't we the good ole US of A, also send our troops on a... what was it? A 7 or 8 year "vacation" in Iraq? It's not just the Russian's who have claws and have used them.
I'm not saying 2 wrong's make a right, but you gotta compare apples to apples.
I'm not sure I agree with cutting the F-22 fighter project, it's a damned fine aircraft and the investment already made in it's technology and development is HUGE... but I'm damned sure I disagree with the grounding and destruction of the F-14 Tomcat that the Bush administration implemented! They're so worried about the F-14's that Iran has, that the Iranian's might somehow get some spare parts from the F-14's we just grounded, that they've been destroying our F-14 aircraft just to keep parts of them away from the Iranians (cutting off our nose to spite our face here?). Something about that just doesn't make sense to me... the Iranians now have one of the most powerful and fastest fighter/interceptors in the world (though they have no spare parts to fly them actively), and we are trashing all of ours why again?
I'm totally unimpressed with that Joint Strike Fighter project.... that thing is a disaster in the making. It tries to do everything for every branch of service, but doesn't do anything particularly well. This makes absolultely no sense to me.
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
I have to seriously question those women's choices in men. Honestly!
Choose poorly, get pregnany, face the consequences of your choice. It wasn't me, I certainly didn't do it!
From a certain point of view, it seems to me like women these days are determined to reward the worst of men with reproduction... our genes in part determine our behavior, and your children carry 50% of the genes of that no good dog who you caught sleeping with your best friend, who beat you up, who broke your arm, trashed your apartment, etc. etc. etc... your kids share half his genes, wonder what they're going to be like when they grow up? Ooops, but nobody thinks about that! My bad.
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
Uhmmm... then perhaps we should abolish medical science as well. After all, if God says "You're sick/injured and you should die," who are we to intervene with our antibiotics and cancer fighting drugs and all that stuff?
Everybody want's to go to Heaven it seems... but nobody wants to go right now. Funny that.
So if you're sick or injured, then by this reasoning only God should decide whether you live or die... right?
My opinion however is that if you can't afford to feed them, then you aught not be breeding them. Octo-mom should have been medically sterilized over a decade ago, she had no business getting herself pregnant with octuplets (not to mention the other kids she'd already had, many of which have chronic and severe health problems as I understand it). Society has a valid interest in the reproductive capabilities of it's members.
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
"Oh I love a rainy night, I love a rainy night, I love to hear the thunder watch the lightning, when it lights up the sky... you know, it makes me feel good!"
"The thunder rolls, and the lightning strikes... another heart grows cold, on a sleepless night... the storm's all, out of control... deep in her heart, the thunder rolls!"
I live just close enough to the Texas Gulf Coast to get good storms from any incoming hurricane, but not so close that I have to worry much about my house getting destroyed. Both Rita and Ike went directly overhead, and other than some fenceline blowing over and limbs piled up everywhere and no power for a week or so, the important things were all just fine. Still, cold showers for a week or so do kinda suck I must admit... but the excitement of a storm, it just get's the blood circulating I tell ya!
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
Can you please clarify the question... should Texas secede? Can Texas secede? Would Texas be better off if it seceded?
Hey if Texas did secede from the Union, then we'd be eligible for Foreign Aid just like the Israelies and India and Pakastan and just about every other country in the world!
Now there's a thought!
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
I think at least 1 parent should be required to be a citizen in order to be born a citizen of a country. Here in the US, we have alot of problems with pregnant hispanic women illegally crossing our southern border in their last trimester just so they can deliver the child in the US so it'll be a US citizen.... and then the mother can't be deported till the child reaches a certain age, as I understand it. It's ridiculous!
I understand that the nation of Kuwait does not allow immigration, and that the only way to be a Kuwaiti citizen is to be born to Kuwaiti parents... In Kuwait, citizens don't pay taxes, the nation pays it's citizens instead (from oil revenues and investments made with oil revenue). Sounds damned nice if you ask me!
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
OMG! Somebody actually agrees with something I said... oh glorious day!!!!
Thank you very much. I've been starting to feel like a minority of 1 on the CS forums here the past couple days. LOL!
I wonder what would happen if the NFL Commissioner started getting tons of letters regarding this issue... would that change anything? Or perhaps the NFL only allowed him back in with the foreknowledge that no team will want Vic to play for them anyhows so it's a hollow gesture designed to prevent Vic from possibly trying to sue the NFL to get back in? IDK...
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
2nd, did you notice how many of the ladies you sent flowers to had been online within the past month? Very many of the women's profiles are effectively abandoned... if the person doesn't log in in over a month, they will probably never come back to log in again. This site, like so many others, never removes stale profiles.
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
Yeah it's a real shame too. It's such a nice state... what other state do you see them making belt buckles in the shape of? Not California that's for sure!
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God!")
Michael211_2000 Forum Posts (775)
Health Care vs. Foreign Aid?
I'm not sure if this pertains or not, but my grandfather (on my paternal side) went into the VA hospital in Houston with a swollen knee joint which they found was a tumor in his knee... they then discovered a piece of the tumor had broken off and lodged in his brain. They did brain surgery on him, twice if I recall correctly, and he lived for almost 12 months BUT he lived almost the entire 12 months in a drooling near vegetable state.Was it worth it?
In this case, alot of money was spent and his quality of life for those 12 months was truely abysmal... of course, hindsight IS 20/20 I recognize. But still, it's quite possible he would have lived longer and had better quality of life IF they'd just left the thing alone I feel. He was in his late 70's I believe... did going after that tumor in his brain really make sense? IDK.
So it's not just about expending resources to try to prolong life for just a little while longer, it's equally about the quality of life you'll get.
As I understand President Obama's concept on this issue, it's that there needs to be some reasonable decisions made on treatments for EOL ailments. Among other things, would the patient perhaps be better off to NOT treat the ailment? In some cases the answer might be Yes.
- Michael ("American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God"!)